Journey step started: Sept 9, 2023
Journey step ended: Nov 26, 2023
Click the Google sheet to the right to see every item covered on this step of the journey.
The Book
Day 617: Sep 9 2023
It’s a wonderful day when I get to embark on a new phase of my Stephen King Journey!
Today is especially significant as I start my path along the Beam and enter into the world of The Dark Tower.
Because The Gunslinger was published initially in 1982 (although it wouldn’t hit mass release until 1988) I put it and the ENTIRE series at this point of my journey.
While I’ve read them all, it’s been decades, so this will feel fresh & new.
“The finished product was first published… as a limited edition in 1982. The following year, because the Pet Sematary cover noted The Gunslinger among King’s previous works, many fans called the offices of King, Grant, and Doubleday wanting more information on the already-out-of-print book.”
That perfectly described me, as a 12-year-old reading Pet Sematary who approached my local libraria
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Before I actually start reading the book (which I will do tomorrow), I start by listening to the spoiler-free The Dark Tower overview by one of the original podcasts on the subject from Dark Tower Radio.
“If Roland is the ‘Batman’ of this world, then Randall Flagg is his ‘Joker’.”
Not the deepest observation, but now I know for sure I won’t be able to get Batman out of my head as I begin re-reading this series.
Day 618: Sep 10, 2023
“The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed.”
The most famous opening line in all of King’s work. It’s like our own little secret handshake. We hear this line from a stranger and immediately give a nod in recognition and brother/sisterhood.
This morning, I’m reading Chapter 1 of The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger.
I am reading the 2003 revised and corrected edition, the one that aligns better with the overall series.
I’ve never actually read this version. I read the original mass release back in the late 80s. I read each of the books as they were released, but because they were so spread out, who could remember any inconsistencies?
But now that I’m traveling this series straight through, I’m gonna need my plots to line up all nice and orderly.
It had always been this way. The gunslinger had followed the man in black across the desert for two months now, across the endless, screamingly monotonous purgatorial wastes, and had yet to find spoor other than the hygienic sterile ideographs of the man in black’s campfires. He had not found a can, a bottle, or a waterbag… He hadn’t found any dung. He assumed the man in black buried it.
Hadn’t expected to read about the main antagonist’s dung, but here we are.
The stars were as indifferent to this as they were to wars, crucifixions, resurrections.
This (aside from the opening line) will stick with me as the most memorable from The Gunslinger.
“Long days and pleasant nights, stranger.”
“And may you have twice the number.”
I love how we’re dropped right into this foreign and familiar world, with its unique mannerisms and colloquialisms without explanation or apology.
“Do you believe in an afterlife?” the gunslinger asked him as Brown dropped three ears of hot corn onto his plate.
Brown nodded. “I think this is it.”
I don’t think King would hit such a depressing sentiment again, at least until the ending of Revival.
A fool’s chorus of half-stoned voices was rising in the final protracted lyric of “Hey Jude”—“Naa-naa-naa naa-na-na-na . . . hey, Jude . . .”—as he entered the town proper.
A very haunting scene, but only if you’re familiar with the Beatles song. By the late 80s when I first read this book, “Hey Jude” was already an old song but not so old that it wasn’t still within the realm of pop culture.
Today’s reader probably thinks those are lyrics invented for the story.
Thunder racketed the sky with a sound like some god coughing.
“All right!” the man in black grinned. “All right, let’s get down to it!”
It’s almost as if this very first scene about the man in black were written with Matthew McConaughey in mind decades later.
You want to know about Death. I left him a word. That word is NINETEEN. If you say it to him his mind will be opened. He will tell you what lies beyond. He will tell you what he saw.
The word is NINETEEN.
Knowing will drive you mad.
Again, “Revival” comes screaming to mind.
“He stood on the balcony with Jezebel and watched as King Ahaz fell screaming to his death, and he and she grinned as the dogs gathered and lapped up his blood. Oh, my little brothers and sisters, watch thou for The Interloper.”
Sylvia Pittston, the female preacher, could’ve been a twinner to Carrie White’s mother, Margaret.
The whole huge mountain of flesh suddenly strained forward and upward, yet he was careful not to let her secret flesh touch him.
Then she seemed to wilt and grow smaller, and she wept with her hands in her lap.
“So,” he said, getting up. “The demon is served, eh?”
“Get out. You’ve killed the child of the Crimson King. But you will be repaid. I set my watch and warrant on it. Now get out. Get out.”
I capture this as one of the strangest scenes I’ve ever read.
He blasted his way through the middle of them, running as the bodies fell, his hands picking the targets with ease and dreadful accuracy. Two men and a woman went down, and he ran through the hole they left.
This whole scene was just MADE to be filmed and shown on the big screen. Why didn’t we get it. Why?
Day 619: Sep 11, 2023
Two Guys to the Dark Tower Came devoted a podcast episode to Chapter 1 of The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger. In fact, this was their very first episode ever, so it’ll be fun to hear where it all began for them.
Regarding King’s later revisions to The Gunslinger to align it better with the overall series, one of the hosts asked the other: Do you feel King “George Lucas-fied” a classic story, meddling with it to the point of making it worse?
I agree with the response: No. The changes were to the world-building (like a reference to billy-bumblers) to make it feel more like the universe he eventually built.
I remember being very critical of the recent CBS All Access remake of The Stand for the overbearing use of flashbacks and flashbacks within flashbacks.
Yet, as the hosts reminded me, King did that exact same thing in Chapter 1, with Roland talking to the hermit Brown recounting his trip to Tull, and in that recounting gave another flashback from one of the characters about how the Man in Black resurrected a town resident. It was so compelling, I didn’t even notice.
One things I noticed while reading the revised version of The Gunslinger (which I failed to mention before) was the the word “Resumption” on the title page.
For those who have traveled the full beam all the way through book 7 will get the power of that word.
But is it too much of a spoiler? Was it really necessary? For somebody re-reading, it’s extraordinarily powerful. But it’s power ONLY for those people.
Day 620: Sep 12, 2023
Listening now to the debut episode of The Kingslingers as they do a deep dive into Chapter 1 of The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger. It is a long episode, so I will just be listening to the first half this morning.
One of the hosts (who’s an author in his own right) starts off by saying that he had only read “Needful Things” and “Carrie” before agreeing to do a Stephen King book podcast. And to have “The Gunslinger” as a third book to read, that must have been quite a shock.
I really like the dynamic of one person who has read all of King’s books talking with somebody who is experiencing most of them for the first time.
They pointed out that Roland’s name wasn’t even revealed for the first couple dozen pages. I didn’t even notice.
That is one of the downsides of knowing these stories so well already. Sometimes the mystery of the reveal is lost and you don’t even realize it.
In fact, a name for The Man in Black is revealed (Walter O’Dim) before the Gunslinger’s.
I never wouldn’t noticed that if it weren’t for the Kingslingers!
Day 621: Sep 13, 2023
Finishing off the The Kingslingers‘ episode about Chapter 1 of The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger. Great analysis so far!
One of the hosts has read all of King’s books, the other is discovering them for the first time.
The novice reader made a claim, “I assume that the band King Crimson is named after’s The Crimson King.”
I wanted to jump through the phone and shout, “No!!!!”
It’s been over 30 years since I read the original mass release of The Gunslinger, so whatever revisions King made I have no clue.
But one of the hosts pointed out that this major change, for the better: in the revision, Roland shoots Allie as an act of mercy (after she had been driven insane by the number 19) whereas in the original, Roland used her as a human shield when shooting all the town members.
Day 622: Sep 14, 2023
Incredible to see how Chapter 1 of The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger has generated so much podcast content. That just underscores how rich that material was.
This morning, I’m listening to a new podcast for the very first time called The Cast of Ka. They have focused solely on the Dark Tower journey and it took them two episodes just for this first chapter.
I say “new podcast” when I mean “new to me.” The Cast of Ka started before the Dark Tower movie came out, so they’ve been at it for a long time. As of today, they are only halfway through The Wolves of Calla, so they are taking their sweet time getting through the material.
It’s been quite a few months since their last episode as a matter of fact. I pinged them over on Twitter and was assured they will be picking it back up soon. I think I’ll be finished before them.
King wrote about poor souls who were addicted to chewing “devil grass”. Bad breath, rotted teeth, the works. They were disparagingly referred to as “weed-eaters” by the locals.
It just struck me that down here in the southern part of the US, those lawn tools used to trim grass along the edges are also called “weed-eaters”. In the northern part of the country, where I came from, we had always called them “weed-whackers” which I’m not sure is that much better.
Regarding the character Allie: “She goes from being hostile to being weirdly horny.”
What, is that NOT normal for women? 😂
Day 623: Sep 15, 2023
Another morning with The Cast of Ka as I listen to their SECOND episode about just the first chapter of The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger.
I really enjoyed their first episode, even with all the bumps that come with the launch of a brand new podcast. They still provided some interesting viewpoints and takeaways.
“There’s a lot of masturbating in Tull. Something going on there…”
😂😂😂😂
Very interesting! Allie from the first chapter of “The Gunslinger” is a twinner of Alice from “The Cell”!
This podcast episode predates the release of “The Dark Tower” film by a few months.
They briefly discussed the controversy over King’s ending to the entire series (which I personally loved) and suggested that the movie was an opportunity for King “to make it right”.
😂😂😂
If only they KNEW at the time what was in store for them!
Day 624: Sep 16, 2023
That was a lot of talk about just one chapter of The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger. But what a chapter!
Now onto Chapter 2, “The Way Station”.
The rain in Spain falls on the plain.
There is joy and also pain
but the rain in Spain falls on the plain.
Time’s a sheet, life’s a stain,
All the things we know will change
and all those things remain the same,
but be ye mad or only sane,
the rain in Spain falls on the plain.
We walk in love but fly in chains
And the planes in Spain fall in the rain.
Twisted from lyrics in “My Fair Lady” that last line gave me chills!
The wood seemed old, fragile to the point of elvishness; it was wood being transmogrified into sand.
Elves are known for their fragileness? That’s quite a departure from Tolkien’s world.
“My name is John Chambers. You can call me Jake.”
I was just a boy myself when I first read this line.
“How long ago? Tell me, for your father’s sake.”
“I. . .I. . .”
Patiently, the gunslinger said, “I’m not going to hurt you.”
“I don’t know. I can’t remember time. Every day is the same.”
Many references to the funny nature of time in this world. Reminds me of the line from the previous chapter considering it possibly being the afterlife.
“A week. Or two.” He looked aside, blushing a little. “Three poops ago, that’s the only way I can measure things now.”
Then again, it would be a hell of an afterlife if time had to be measured in terms of bowel movements!
That whole scene where, under hypnosis, Jake recounted his death (murder) by the man in black in another world… I don’t think I breathed at all. Masterful!
The floor was earthen, and his head almost touched the overhead beams. Down here spiders still lived, disturbingly big ones with mottled gray bodies. Many were muties, the true thread long-lost. Some had eyes on stalks, some had what might have been as many as sixteen legs.
I once lived in a very old house with an unfinished basement and there were spiders down there that looked just like this… They are called “Zombie Spiders”. Google it!
“Go slow past the Drawers, gunslinger. Watch for the taheen. While you travel with the boy, the man in black travels with your soul in his pocket.”
Ah… Another classic line from this book!
“You pissed him off,” Cort said. “The hawk does not fear you, boy, and the hawk never will. The hawk is God’s gunslinger.”
I will never look at a hawk the same again.
Steven Deschain was dressed in black jeans and a blue work shirt.
I’m half-disappointed that it wasn’t a blue chambray shirt!
The land did not fall to the good man for another five years, and by that time Roland was a gunslinger, his father was dead, he himself had become a matricide—and the world had moved on.
This is such a King signature move: Drop a single sentence that foretells MAJOR plot points ahead, seemingly dispensing with any pretense at surprise, and leaving you hungering for WHAT? and HOW?
And that ends Chapter 2 of The Gunslinger. Another compelling step in this world King is building.
Day 625: Sep 17, 2023
To help point out all the things I missed in Chapter 2 of “The Gunslinger,” I turn to Two Guys to the Dark Tower Came.
Reading too much into it? I’m not so sure.
They point out that Jake Chambers’s initials are “J. C.” and that he died in one world to be resurrected in another. 🤔
Day 626: Sep 18, 2023
The Cast of Ka takes on Chapter 2 of “The Gunslinger”.
We also debate proper spider disposal policies (both mutant and true threaded), visiting the locations of some of our favorite childhood films, and Rachel goes way, way, way down the rabbit hole to discover something spooky and Dark Tower-y secretly hiding in our midst.
Ch 2 features a flashback to Roland’s childhood. His friend Cuthbert sticks his tongue out behind the back of their hard-ass trainer, Cort and is chastised for it. When asked how he knew, Cort said he saw the reflection in Roland’s eyes – a subtle lesson in Gunslinger awareness.
That exact technique was used by Roland back in Ch 1 when he saw the reflection in the pervert father’s eyes of his daughter about to attack him from behind with a log.
I totally missed that
Day 627: Sep 19, 2023
One of my favorite and the funniest of the King podcasts is Derry Public Radio. Here, they review the first two chapters of “The Gunslinger”.
Interesting and unexpected praise for the original version of the book prior to King going back and revising it. They claim that it’s somewhat lost a sense of mystery with the addition of all the references to the larger Tower lore.
So far, 30 minutes into this episode, they have talked about “The Man Who Brings the Beans” more than they talked about “The Man in Black”. 😂
“The revised edition shits on the most important part of it, but we’ll get to that later.”
Ooooh, I am intrigued to know where THIS is coming from!
“I love that he’s just like, “I’m a fucking crazy fantasy cowboy man. This rules.’”
Why don’t we ever see THIS in any description of Roland? It’s the best one I’ve seen yet!
While they love all the editions, there was a general feeling that Roland was much more of a bad guy in the original version of The Gunslinger. By changing how he killed Allie, it somewhat deprived him of the redemption arc in future novels.
Day 628: Sep 20, 2023
Roland and Jack head to the mountains in pursuit of the man in black as I settle in this morning to read Chapter 3 of The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger. This chapter is titled “The Oracle and the Mountains”.
There was a ring of black standing stones which looked like some sort of surreal animal-trap in the moonlight. In the center was a table of stone . . . an altar. Very old, rising out of the ground on a thick arm of basalt.
What stunning imagery! I can’t wait to see Mike Flanagan bring this scene to the screen.
…this verse came from the Manni-folk to the north of the desert, a clan of them still living among machines that usually didn’t work . . . and which sometimes ate the men when they did.
Sounds like the town up north is living out Maximum Overdrive.
Worlds rose and fell before him. Empires were built across shining sands where forever machines toiled in abstract electronic frenzies. Empires declined, fell, rose again. Wheels that had spun like silent liquid moved more slowly, began to squeak, began to scream, stopped. Sand choked the stainless steel gutters of concentric streets below dark skies full of stars like beds of cold jewels… The gunslinger watched as the world moved on.
Wow. I’m in awe.
I am sworn by my father’s guns and by the treachery of Marten.
*Marten is no more. The man in black has eaten his soul. This you know.*
I’ve heard early speculation that the man in black IS Marten (or they were brothers). But this statement from the Oracle makes it sound like an Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader transformation.
Jake was trembling violently and his face had gone pale.
“What’s the matter?”
“Let’s go back,” Jake whispered. “Let’s go back quick.”
The gunslinger’s face was wooden.
…
“Please, please!” The boy raised a fist, as if to strike the gunslinger’s chest.
“No.”
The boy’s face took on wonder. “You’re going to kill me. He killed me the first time and you’re going to kill me this time. And I think you know it.”
What a gut punch!
“We’ll speak on the other side, I think,” the man in black said. “On the other side we will hold much council and long palaver.”
His eyes flicked to Jake and he added:
“Just the two of us.”
The anticipation!
Day 629: Sep 21, 2023
Roland got it on with the spooky lady ghost who whispered sweet nothings into his ear (seriously, for an Oracle could she have been any less clear about what was going to happen to him?)
Two Guys to the Dark Tower Came share their thoughts on chapter 3 of The Gunslinger.
The Two Guys reminded me of the passage from Ch 3 where Roland fired three shots at the man in black at close range and missed.
Reminded me of this scene from The Naked Gun.
Day 630: Sep 22, 2023
The Kingslingers deliver a deep dive episode that is 4 times longer than the time it took to read Chapter 3 of The Gunslinger!
I made a big decision this morning. I’ve added FIVE new Stephen King related podcasts to my journey, adding hundreds of episodes to my backlog.
– Tower Junkies
– The Year of the Underrated Stephen King
– Kingsize
– Just King Things
– Dark Tower Palaver
Two of these (Tower Junkies and Dark Tower Palaver) have especially deep dives into the Dark Tower series, so I thought it better to include them now just as I’m beginning.
I’ll have links to these podcasts up on my website tomorrow in case you’re interested in checking them out as well.
Day 631: Sep 23, 2023
Good morning! I’m starting off my day with The Kingslingers and finishing off their deep-dives into Chapter 3 of The Gunslinger.
They referenced a pretty dark passage in which Roland has a dream about Jake having a spike in his head.
While going through this King journey, I’m concurrently reading Brandon Sanderson’s Cosmere novels. That imagery reminded me of the Inquisitors of the Mistborn books who have steel spikes nailed through both eyes.
A few seconds later, one of the hosts made a comment that the magic of the Dark Tower doesn’t follow set rules like a Brandon Sanderson novel.
“And for the second time in the story, Roland trades sex for information.”
I hadn’t even thought of that! But they’re right. With Allie in Tull and now here with the succubus in chapter 3, Roland is turning out to be quite the man-whore.
Who am I kidding? If Google and Wikipedia ever went down, who knows what depths I will go to to get information. Maybe I shouldn’t be so judgy.
Day 632: Sep 24, 2023
The Cast of Ka take it to the mountains and give it to the Oracle as they discuss Chapter 3 of The Gunslinger.
We also talk government mind control, what else we’ve been reading, and how to make a fool of yourself when you’re a tourist. Plus, we read some killer listener mail and geek out over the newly announced Dark Tower TV series!
They introduced a new segment in which they discuss the language of mid-World and focus on a specific word or phrase.
For this episode, they discussed “commala” which was first mentioned in Chapter 1. It means “rice” and “also an alternative name for the festival dance known as the Sowing Night Cotillion. The Commala is the courting rite of New Earth, a festival also known as Sowing and Fresh Commala.”
I also learned there is an official “glossary” online of which I will be making extensive use.
Day 633: Sep 25, 2023
I’m taking a small step back this morning and am letting a few new podcasts that I’ve added to my journey introduce themselves. They are very Dark Tower specific so the timing is just right to bring them on board.
First is Dark Tower Palaver.
Dark Tower Palaver has been in existence since 2015. They started working through each book along with a lot of side discussions about the movie, rumored TV series, etc.
It’s now nearing the back end of 2023 and they are just at the beginning of Wizard and Glass. As they seem to be taking as long to get through the series as it took King to write them, there’s no doubt I’ll be finished with the series before they will.
The hosts of Dark Tower Palaver had already read the entire series prior to embarking on their show in 2015. As such, they do drop spoilers about the series as a whole throughout (which doesn’t bother me so much since I read the series decades ago).
But they mention that lightsabers (from the Star Wars universe) play a role in one of the later books. I have no recollection of that!
Day 634: Sep 26, 2023
An introduction to the next podcast that I’m adding to my journey: Tower Junkies. Like several others, they started their podcast just before The Dark Tower movie hit theaters. That’s at least one good thing that came out of that movie. It spawned a lot of long-lasting King discussions!
It’s always so heartbreaking to hear die-hard Dark Tower fans pin all their hopes and dreams on the 2017 film adaptation. I just want to go back in time, warn them, and give them all big hugs.
“If he was saying, ‘Death. But not for you, gunslinger’ I’d have a hard-on right now.”
These are some Tower Junkies, for sure! And I’m glad I wasn’t in the theater with them when the Dark Tower movie was released. It would have gotten… uncomfortable!
Day 635: Sep 27, 2023
Tower Junkies is up again with a Dark Tower overview and a challenge:
“Pitching The Dark Tower and Stephen King to Prospective Readers”
How would YOU sell this to a casual King fan?
The next episode I’m listening to is “The Year of Underrated Stephen King” who has been going strong since 2020.
Hosted by “Kim C”, a creative writing instructor herself, this episode offers some suggestions on how to read the Dark Tower saga.
She recommends listening to the audiobook *while* reading a physical copy.
That’s an interesting idea. I have listened to the audiobook versions as narrated by Frank Muller back in the 90s (rest in peace). But I don’t think my eyes will go at the slower pace as the spoken word dictates. I’ll try it out when I start up the next chapter of The Gunslinger, but I doubtful that it will last.
Day 636: Sep 28, 2023
I’m now going back through the chapters of The Gunslinger I’ve already read with some of these “newer” podcasts I recently added to my journey.
This morning, I start on Chapter 1 with Dark Tower Palaver.
While their love for the Dark Tower saga is obvious, one of the hosts did have this to say about the opening chapter of The Gunslinger:
“It does come off like it’s from a 19-year-old trying to impress people”.
But if he didn’t know King was that young when he first penned the basics of this story, would he have thought the same?
Day 637: Sep 29, 2023
Dark Tower Palaver is back with a second episode covering the back half of Chapter 1 of The Gunslinger. This time, they each brought their book: One had the original release and the other had the revised edition.
Like two Bible scholars, they compared and contrasted the texts. It was interesting!
If you’re looking for a written detailed comparison between the two versions, you can find it here:
Day 638: Sep 30, 2023
To finish off my return trip to Part 1 of The Gunslinger I listen to the Tower Junkies.
Quite shocking: One of the hosts of The Tower Junkies (Tiny?) is the first person I’ve ever heard say they were not that impressed with the opening line, “The man in black fled across the desert and the gunslinger followed.”
He certainly didn’t come across as wanting to be shocking for shocking’s sake. So I’m impressed that he genuinely stands out among the King crowd.
Day 639: Oct 1, 2023
This morning, I’m revisiting The Waystation (Ch 2 of The Gunslinger) with the Tower Junkies.
Day 640: Oct 2, 2023
Dark Tower Palaver has a two-part episode dedicated just to The Waystation (Ch 2 of The Gunslinger). I’m listening their detailed comparison between the original & revised editions.
These guys from Dark Tower Palaver do something unique in that they occasionally play clips from the audiobook when discussing a specific passage. Today, they played the narration of Jake’s death when he was run over by a car. It really does hit home when read out loud.
I might take that piece of advice to play the audiobook while reading when I pick this back up in chapter 4.
Day 641: Oct 3, 2023
Dark Tower Palaver finishes off The Waystation (Ch 2 of The Gunslinger).
Day 642: Oct 4, 2023
I finally make it back to the point where I left off reading The Gunslinger and now I get to hear Tower Junkies review the third chapter, “The Oracle and the Mountains”.
Day 643: Oct 5, 2023
One more podcast episode and then I’m back to reading The Gunslinger! This morning it’s Dark Tower Palaver who starts reviewing the third chapter, “The Oracle and the Mountains”.
Day 644: Oct 6, 2023
Having caught up on various newly-discovered podcast series about The Gunslinger, I now proceed with Chapter 4: The Slow Mutants.
I am going to try out the advice one of them gave to listen to the audiobook while reading the text. It’ll slow down my reading considerably, but maybe that’s not so much of a bad thing.
It will feel like I’m back in elementary school reading books while the record player broadcast a chippy narrator.
Within the first few seconds, I had to bump up the audiobook playback to 1.5x speed. It’s still slower than I would normally read, but the 1x speed was so godawfully slow, I was going nuts.
Now, I’ve listened to a million audiobooks before. I listened to Revival and the Mr. Mercedes series while training for a marathon. The experience was fine. But I’ve never done it while reading a novel.
Once there was a king, he might have told the boy; the Eld whose blood, attenuated though it may be, still flows in my veins. But kings are done, lad. In the world of light, anyway.
This passage could have been lifted from Lord of the Rings. Very poetic!
“I remember how they danced,” the gunslinger said. “My mother and Marten, the gunslingers’ counselor. I remember how they danced, revolving slowly together and apart, in the old steps of courtship.”
…
Remembering that island of light hurt him bitterly, and he wished he had never held witness to it, or to his father’s cuckoldry.
Reading these words as an adult vs as a teenager. A world of serious, somber difference.
The hermit crouched beside it, one arm wrapped possessively around it, and preached wild, guttering sermons. He occasionally placed the still-bright steel nozzle, which was attached to a rotted rubber hose, between his legs. On the pump, in perfectly legible (although rust-clotted) letters, was a legend of unknown meaning: AMOCO. Lead Free. Amoco had become the totem of a thunder-god, and they had worshipped Him…
I’d watch a movie based solely on this premise.
The boy spoke less and less, but at their stopping place one sleep-period not long before they were attacked by the Slow Mutants, he asked the gunslinger almost shyly about his coming of age.
Several podcasters commented how King rarely does subtle foreshadowing. More often it’s like this, a blunt slap across the face that makes you say “WHAT???”
And that anticipation propels you through the slow stuff until the action actually hits.
“I saw a not-man hung once.”
“A not-man?”
“You could feel him but couldn’t see him.”
Jake nodded, “He was invisible.”
“…there were folk who didn’t want me to do it—felt they’d be cursed if I did it, but the fellow had gotten a taste for rape. Do you know what that is?”
“Yes,” Jake said. “And I bet an invisible guy would be good at it, too. How did you catch him?”
“That’s a tale for another day.”
I bet this was never told but now I want to hear it so bad!
Ahead were his mother’s apartments and he approached them incuriously, meaning only to pass them and go upward to the roof, where a thin breeze and the pleasure of his hand awaited.
Ummm. Oookaaayyy then. Perhaps its a strange mid-world custom to “take care of business” on the roof of your mother’s residence, but I just can’t imagine…
“Are you going to be a fighter like your father or are you just slow?”
“Both,” the boy said. He looked steadily at Marten and smiled painfully. Even in here, it was very hot.
Marten stopped smiling abruptly. “You can go to the roof now, boy. I believe you have business there.”
“My mother has not yet dismissed me, bondsman!”
Whenever he writes a young person speaking with an authority beyond their age, I love it! I wish I had that confidence when I was younger.
“I think you die today,” he [Roland] said, continuing to stroke. “I think you will be made a sacrifice, like all those little birds we trained you on. Do you remember? No? It doesn’t matter. After today I am the hawk and each year on this day I’ll shoot the sky in your memory.”
I take back what I said earlier about King’s blunt foreshadowing. Sometimes, he indeed can be subtle. In this case, Roland showing a capability of sacrificing a loved one to obtain a goal.
“…which will it be, David? Age or friendship?”
David did not say.
The boy hooded him and found the jesses, which were looped at the end of David’s perch. They left the barn.
King’s naming the hawk “David”… That just HAD to be a reference to the biblical story, right? About a young man slaying a giant with an arial object?
“Let the word and the legend go before you. There are those who will carry both.” His eyes flicked over the gunslinger’s shoulder. “Fools, perchance. Let your shadow grow hair on its face. Let it become dark.” He smiled grotesquely. “Given time, words may even enchant an enchanter. Do you take my meaning, gunslinger?”
Cort’s words to Roland after being bested in combat. Amazing!
I’m stopping here at the conclusion of Roland’s earning his title “gunslinger”.
Indeed, reading with the audiobook did slow me down. But when Roland engaged in his battle, it was breathtaking to hear the very talented narrator speed up with excitement to tell it. The experience was truly enhanced! I can’t wait to finish off this chapter tomorrow.
Day 645: Oct 7, 2023
In my opinion, the best part of The Gunslinger was Roland recounting the story of how he had earned his guns.
Today, I finish off Part 4: The Slow Mutants.
The gunslinger didn’t tell the boy all of this, but perhaps most of it came through anyway. He had already realized that this was an extremely perceptive boy, not so different from Alain, who was strong in that half-empathy, half-telepathy they called the touch.
Couldn’t have been more obvious than had he called it “The Shine”.
There were perhaps a dozen other mummies. All but two or three were wearing the blue and gold ornamental uniforms. The gunslinger supposed that the gas had been used when the place was empty of most incoming and outgoing traffic. Perhaps once in the dim ago, the station had been a military objective of some long-gone army and cause.
I love these little vignettes that tease an infinite amount of possible mysterious stories that deserve entire novels of their own.
All the chips on the table. Every card up but one. The boy dangled, a living Tarot card, the Hanged Man, the Phoenician sailor, innocent lost and barely above the wave of a stygian sea.
I knew this scene was coming. (How could I not? It’s the most famous scene in the book!)
But I fully expected it in Chapter 5 and to have it hit me now at the end of Chapter 4 when I wasn’t expecting it… A gut punch.
The man in black pushed his hood away with the backs of both hands, laughing.
“So!” he cried. “Not an end, but the end of the beginning, eh? You progress, gunslinger! You progress! Oh, how I admire you!”
This King’s version of The Joker and Roland is the Batman. It truly fits.
That’s it for today. Tomorrow I’ll start through the five podcast episodes I’ve lined up which cover this chapter I just finished.
What a goddamned masterpiece so far!
Day 646: Oct 8, 2023
Two Guys to the Dark Tower Came provide their take on Part 4: The Slow Mutants.
Day 647: Oct 9, 2023
This morning, I turn to The Cast of Ka for some comfort after the shocking ending to The Gunslinger Part 4: The Slow Mutants.
As they summarized the railcar trip through the mountain, I kept finding similarities with the Fellowship’s path through the mines of Moria.
Day 648: Oct 10, 2023
The Tower Junkies tackle The Gunslinger Part 4: The Slow Mutants.
“Go then. There are other worlds than these.”
The Tower Junkies spend quite a bit of time on the audiobook rendition of this line. In their interpretation, it lacked the proper emotional delivery that was required for such a pivotal moment.
It was a surprising take. I listened to it while reading, but perhaps I’m so familiar with this scene that it didn’t really register as out of place when read out loud.
Day 649: Oct 11, 2023
It’s Dark Tower Palaver‘s turn to try to outrun The Slow Mutants from The Gunslinger Part 4.
Day 650: Oct 12, 2023
Today, I finish reading The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger with Chapter 5 “Gunslinger and the Man in Black”.
This has been an amazing book so far and can’t imagine that the ending of this very first step along the Beam won’t be satisfactory.
The man in black led him to an ancient killing ground to make palaver.
These dark fantasies never have “ancient birthing grounds”, do they?
“I have matches,” the man in black said jovially, “but I thought you might enjoy the magic. For a pretty, gunslinger. Now cook our dinner.”
It is really bothering me how the man in black is bossing Roland around, and how Roland is just going along with it.
It’s disconcerting.
“Yet you have no idea how close you stand to the Tower now, as you resume your quest. Worlds turn about your head.”
“What do you mean, resume? I never left off.”
At this the man in black laughed heartily, but would not say what he found so funny.
This just HAD to have been something that was added as part of the revisions. One of the podcasts will certainly confirm this for me.
“That is not for you to know now,” the man in black said. “Or for me to know. I’m not the great one you seek, Roland. I am merely his emissary.”
My favorite stories are the ones where the big bad who’s been chased and battled over time is just but one level in the ladder to ultimate evil. I’ve seen it in Bandon Sanderson’s Mistborn. In Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles. In many others as well.
Volcanoes blurted endless magma like giant pimples on some ugly adolescent’s baseball head.
This took me out of the story a bit. Did they have baseball in Mid-World? I doubt it and to use descriptions with references to things outside of the story’s universe isn’t good.
“I made your father and I broke him,” the man in black said grimly. “I came to your mother as Marten—there’s a truth you always suspected, is it not?—and took her. She bent beneath me like a willow . . . although (this may comfort you) she never broke.”
Oooohhh, this guy deserves a Will Smith slap across the face: “Keep my mother out your damn mouth!”
The universe (he said) is the Great All, and offers a paradox too great for the finite mind to grasp. As the living brain cannot conceive of a nonliving brain—although it may think it can—the finite mind cannot grasp the infinite.
A mythology that hearkens back to The Silmarillion. I love it!
What seems solid to us is actually only a loose net held together by gravity. Viewed at their actual size, the distances between these atoms might become leagues, gulfs, aeons.
Another thing that takes me out of stories is bad physics. Atoms aren’t held together by gravity, but rather by strong and weak nuclear forces.
Oh well. Carrying on!
Perhaps you saw what place our universe plays in the scheme of things—as no more than an atom in a blade of grass. Could it be that everything we can perceive, from the microscopic virus to the distant Horsehead Nebula, is contained in one blade of grass that may have existed for only a single season in an alien time-flow?
The man in black sharing the same insights as anyone smoking pot for the first time.
The gunslinger waited for the time of the *drawing* and dreamed his long dreams of the Dark Tower, to which he would someday come at dusk and approach, winding his horn, to do some unimaginable final battle.
And this is how The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger ends.
I listened to the audiobook while reading and truly enjoyed that experience. I think I’ll do that for the rest of my journey!
Day 651: Oct 13, 2023
I finished The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger yesterday and I think I have a new number one in my rankings of favorite books, displacing The Stand. It’s just so very different from anything else he had written and It truly felt otherworldly.
I’m in for a long stretch of podcast episodes about this book, because everybody and their uncle wanted to weigh in. I’m starting with Two Guys to the Dark Tower Came.
“He doesn’t have the time, or the luxury, to let it break his brain.”
An interesting explanation as to why Roland was able to withstand the vision that the man in black sent him an a dream.
Day 652: Oct 14, 2023
The Kingslingers discuss the last two chapters of The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger in a long episode that I am going to digest over two days.
I do think that “prophecy” might have been a little overused in the Gunslinger.
You had the demon’s jawbone, the Oracle, and the main in black with his tarot cards. Seems like everybody and their uncle had the gift which somewhat diluted this spooky power.
Day 653: Oct 15, 2023
Finishing off the Kingslingers discussion of the last chapter of The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger.
They brought up a question that I hadn’t considered before, and now it’s so obvious I’m completely disturbed by it.
Jake was sacrificed so that Roland could finally reach the man in black. When he does so, the man in black essentially gives Roland the same prophecies that the Oracle did two chapters ago.
So was Jake’s death even necessary here? Doesn’t appear that Roland gained all that much in the end.
Day 654: Oct 16, 2023
Derry Public Radio finished off The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger as well.
“I got ghost herpes.”
Only Derry Public Radio would come up with that line while discussing the succubus scene in chapter 3. 😂😂😂
One of the largest differences between the original and revised versions of The Gunslinger is the “big” question that Roland asks of the man in black.
Instead of “Will I succeed? Will I win through?” Roland originally asked, “Have I seen you before?” The original question is certainly more of a dud and the change certainly is more quest-y.
Day 655: Oct 17, 2023
The Cast of Ka reviews the final chapter of The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger.
This is the second episode in a row that made reference to “Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy”. When Walter gives Roland the vision of his place in the universe, it reminded them of this:
“The Total Perspective Vortex was a machine built with the intention of showing beings the infinity of creation, which became used as a method of torture.”
Day 656: Oct 18, 2023
Tower Junkies get their fix with the metaphysical final chapter of The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger.
Day 657: Oct 19, 2023
Dark Tower Palaver palavers about the end of The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger.
They recounted in detail Roland’s coming of age against Cort. I think that passage may be my favorite of all of the King literature that I’ve read so far.
I remember very little about Wizard and Glass, but what I do remember is that it carried the same tone as this scene and that might be why I remember it as my favorite book of the series.
Day 658: Oct 20, 2023
The road to the Dark Tower is a long one and it’s made even longer by this 3+ hour episode from The Losers’ Club about The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger.
Day 659: Oct 21, 2023
Finishing off the second half of this epic episode from The Losers’ Club about The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger.
“As The Dark Tower series progresses and Roland has more sex…”
Well, if that doesn’t incent me to continue onward with this journey, nothing will!
They had an interesting discussion about the comic book series surrounding this book and older aspects of Roland’s history. There’s some overlap with Wizard and Glass, so I’m trying to figure out if I should consume those comics now and work through The Gunslinger renditions as well, or wait until after Wizard and Glass. I guess I’ll make my final call about this next week when I’m done with all the podcasts about this book.
Day 660: Oct 22, 2023
Chat Sematary refreshingly has a rather short episode about about The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger.
What a difference between this episode with two hosts who were not knowledgeable in the Dark Tower lore (one of them hardly has read King and “didn’t like horror”) and the ones I’ve been listening to. This episode came off like a book report written by a student who never read the book.
Day 661: Oct 23, 2023
Two Guys to the Dark Tower Came were there for every chapter of The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger. Now they reflect back on the work as a whole.
Day 662: Oct 24, 2023
Kingslingers return for a final look back at the book that launched a saga – The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger.
“There is not a lot relatable about a cowboy knight that is willing to sacrifice a child to get to a mystical place.”
Talking about how Roland stands out from all the other characters that King has written up to this point.
Day 663: Oct 25, 2023
Stephen King Cast delivered three episodes about The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger. Here’s the first of his own trilogy.
Although he was aware of the 2003 revised version, he chose specifically to review only the original text, but promised a circle back to the revisions afterwards. Interesting choice.
He’s in red the entire Wikipedia summary of The Gunslinger, with a Muzak version of “Hey Jude” playing too loudly behind his voice.
Content maybe king, but quality is queen. I started podcasting this year as well and I never would have let that unlistenable mix out into the world.
Day 664: Oct 26, 2023
Having finished his initial review of the book, Stephen King Cast now explores The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger in the larger context of the entire series.
Surprisingly, the host of this podcast casts a critical eye towards some decisions that King made in the large arc of the Dark Tower saga.
To start with, he found implausible the retconning of the Man in Black revealing himself to be every bad guy under the sun.
He was also not a fan of the insertion of a self-aware author into the story itself later in the series.
Day 665: Oct 27, 2023
Stephen King Cast visits The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger one last time, but this time to focus on just the ending of the novel. Did he find Roland’s metaphysical palaver with the Man in Black to be a worthy King ending?
The most eye-opening aspect of this episode was the strong recommendation not to read “The Wind Through The Keyhole” in the chronological sequence of the story (i.e. after Wizard and Glass) but rather in the order of publication release, making it the last book to read.
He’s made a convincing argument that it serves as a “thematic palette cleanser”.
I think that I’ll be updating my plans.
Day 666: Oct 28, 2023
I acknowledge the Mark of the Beast as I reach the 666th day of this journey.
Let’s celebrate by tuning in to Dark Tower Radio and listen to their discussion about The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger.
Did he just say “Drawing of the Two”?
Day 667: Oct 29, 2023
In the last episode, Dark Tower Radio spent quite a bit of time defending the movie and talking about the series as a whole. Hopefully, here in part 2, they’ll actually go deep into the book itself and talk about The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger.
One of the hosts is an artist and he told a very interesting story of how he tried to position himself to be a contributor to the artwork of Wizard and Glass. Not knowing an exact address, he sent samples of his artwork to “Stephen King, Bangor, Maine” and surprisingly got a response and invitation from the firm responsible for the book art!
He didn’t get the gig, but he indeed had a story of a minor brush with greatness to tell.
Day 668: Oct 30, 2023
I’m nearing the end of the very long list of podcast episodes that were devoted to The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger. However, several of the remaining are over 2 hours long. I’ll be splitting them up, starting with Dark Tower Radio and their THIRD visit to the beginning of the series.
I guess it’s a rule now that every episode about The Gunslinger has to feature this song (which is not very good, IMO).
Day 669: Oct 31, 2023
Now listening to Dark Tower Radio‘s final episode about The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger.
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
Day 670: Nov 1, 2023
Tower Junkies weighs in on The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger.
Day 671: Nov 2, 2023
I’ve only got three more podcasts episodes lined up that deal with The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger, and then I’m on to the graphic novel rendition of the same story. But these are long episodes, so I estimate about 5 days to get through them and then on to something fresh!
But for now, I hit play on The Year of the Underrated Stephen King.
Our 1st Episode of 2021! For the Gunslinger
The Year of the Underrated Stephen King is a podcast I recently discovered that has been at it for quite a few years. The host is the one who recommended listening to the audiobook of the novel while reading the novel. This is something I did halfway through The Gunslinger and thought it was a phenomenal experience.
However, she made an unfortunate choice to have a loop of electronic music playing in the background during the entire 2 hours – completely distracting!
Day 672: Nov 3, 2023
Listening to the second half of The Year of the Underrated Stephen King‘s podcast on The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger.
Day 673: Nov 4, 2023
Just King Things tackles the metaphysical aspects of The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger.
This is my first listening experience with Just King Things. They opened with a little bit of comedy about Tarot cards and memories about Stephen King listservs (ah, good times during those dial-up Internet days).
I hadn’t heard this before, but apparently, after King’s accident he declared that he was going to finish up the Dark Tower series and then retire from writing.
I speak for all of us in saying that we’re glad he didn’t!
Day 674: Nov 5, 2023
Listening now to the 2nd half of the Just King Things episode about The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger.
Day 675: Nov 6, 2023
The final episode I’m going to listen to about The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger belongs to The Kingcast. Then tomorrow I will start on the graphic novel rendition of the story. Very excited!
The Graphic Novel
Day 676: Nov 7, 2023
When I went through The Stand last year, I finished by reading the graphic novel adaptation of that work. It was phenomenal!
Now, I get to do the same with The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger. And I expect no less of a wonderful experience with The Gunslinger: The Journey Begins.
A disturbing image of a taheen greeted me on the first page.
Interesting… In the book, Roland’s initial quest was for the man in black, and it wasn’t until the end that it shifted to The Dark Tower.
The next in this series is an original work called “Sheemie’s Tale”.
Appreciate the heads up, Roland!
I decided to stay within the scope of The Gunslinger and not yet hit those works that went deeper into Roland’s backstory as covered by Wizard and Glass.
Yet, the writer here felt it necessary to try and bridge that backstory with Roland’s opening chapter in The Gunslinger.
Day 677: Nov 8, 2023
Now reading Issue #2 of The Gunslinger: The Journey Begins.
Continuing with Roland’s backstory (I’m impatient to get back to The Gunslinger plot) I get to see this artist’s rendition of a billy-bumbler.
I had imagined them to be more… round.
I remember reading the passing mention of “not-men” in the book and thinking it would be very interesting to hear more about them!
Oh, and here they are! 😯
Cort!
Oh, and here they are! This is quite nightmarish rendition of a slow mutant. 😬
A vicious and gruesome battle between a pack of billy-bumblers and slow mutants is NOT what I expected to encounter today, but I’m glad I did!
This issue ends with the appearance of the ghost of Hax the cook, who was first introduced as part of a flashback early on in The Gunslinger. I’m interested to see where this goes!
Day 678: Nov 9, 2023
On to Issue #3 of The Gunslinger: The Journey Begins. I am really enjoying this series!
We are back to the main story and a flashback to Roland’s childhood and the discovery of Hax the Cook’s plan to poison a town.
A gorgeous view of Gilead! I hadn’t imagined curved stone arches, almost out of a Roger Dean painting.
Another interesting choice to have the townspeople attired in the style of 19th century aristocrats. Of course, I knew this had a strong western/cowboy motif, but I never gave much thought to how citizenry were dressed.
At the end of each issue, there are several pages of the writer’s thoughts and explanations of creative licenses taken and even the occasional self-doubt of choices made. I really enjoy these sections!
Day 679: Nov 10, 2023
Next is Issue #4 of The Gunslinger: The Journey Begins.
This series is half a faithful retelling of the first chapter of the book and half new “fan fiction”, filling in additional elements of Roland’s life just before his quest into the desert.
The hanging of a “no-man” (notice his bottom half is missing) is certainly an interesting addition.
Roland runs into a woman coincidentally named Susan in another town that has been plagued by no-men.
And this Susan is eventually captured and carted off by a no-man in what felt like a far too short edition of this series.
There’s a band I really enjoy called No Man. I highly doubt there’s a relationship with Dark Tower mythology, but one can imagine!
Day 680: Nov 11, 2023
I’ve reached the final issue of this 5-part run of The Gunslinger: The Journey Begins.
We’ve slipped away from the mystical, otherworldly feel of Mid-World and landed into a typical post-apocalyptic escape plot. It’s a bit underwhelming.
At least his tendency to be Roland Bigelow, Male Gigolo is kept consistent in this story.
And that’s a wrap for this particular series!
There’s only one podcast who’s covered these graphic novels, so here’s Chat Sematary to cover The Gunslinger: The Journey Begins.
Day 681: Nov 12, 2023
The next 5-edition series is The Gunslinger: The Battle of Tull.
I skipped past Sheemie’s Tales and Little Sisters of Eluria as I wanted to stay close to the first novel. But I’ll revisit them all when I get to Wizard and Glass.
Would YOU ride a two-headed horse?
How interesting. Roland has a pouch that generates money on demand. I know he threw money around in The Gunslinger, but do any of the novels mention a “magical pouch”?
I wanted Roland to intervene, but no. It’s a very depressing world.
Oh hey… How YOU doin’?
Day 682: Nov 13, 2023
Reading No. 2 of The Gunslinger: The Battle of Tull.
Ew. Gross!
Wonderful imagery.
I can hardly wait for Mike Flanagan to put the resurrection of Nort to screen (hopefully, the big screen!)
I really like how the man in black has mannerisms and uses vernacular from our current world, connecting us to Mid-World. King WANTS us to be able to relate to this character and be puzzled by Roland.
Day 683: Nov 14, 2023
Next is Issue No. 3 of The Gunslinger: The Battle of Tull.
The offer to ask newly resurrected Nort about what lies beyond death drove Allie to the brink of madness.
But Nort saying “”A-yuh”… Is that a reference to the Maine-isms of Pet Sematary?
I like how they showed the letter in full, including the Randall Flagg smiley face. Nice touch!
The great preacher, Sylvia Pittston!
😯
Day 684: Nov 15, 2023
Now reading Issue No. 4 of The Gunslinger: The Battle of Tull.
The Tower plays more prominently as part of Roland’s quest in this series than I believe it did in the novel. I could be wrong, but in the book, the Tower didn’t seem to gain importance until the last chapter.
Well, this image is gonna haunt me for the rest of the day!
I’m really curious how they’ll render THAT scene (you know what I’m referring to).
I suppose it’s a little more clear than it was in the book, but not by much.
Day 685: Nov 16, 2023
I’ve reached the fifth and final issue of The Gunslinger: The Battle of Tull. It’s been a high quality and very faithful retelling of the key flashback tale of The Gunslinger’s first chapter.
Although, I must opine that this cover is a bit too blunt in its symbolism.
Until Mike Flanagan adapts this for the screen, this will be the perfect rendition of Roland’s mercy killing of Allie.
What an incredible sequence!
Can’t the same be said of good deeds? Perhaps not in Mid-World.
This was an excellent callback to Nort the Resurrected. I don’t recall from the book if he was part of Tull’s mob or if he had just been forgotten in the story. I, for one, had forgotten about him at this point and am glad there’s closure.
Chat Sematary released an episode that covered this series.
Day 686 Nov 17, 2023
The next 5-part series is The Way Station.
It was an interesting creative choice to finally include this line this deep into the series.
If this happened in the book I don’t recall it.
That “the planes in Spain” line gives me goosebumps every time.
Oh, hi Jake!
Day 687: Nov 18, 2023
Now reading Issue 2 of the 5-part series The Gunslinger: The Way Station.
Now HERE’S the most famous line from The Gunslinger that I’ve been waiting for!
Gorgeous!
This entire sequence was delivered very effectively.
Knowing what Mike Flanagan did with the baseball boy in Doctor Sleep, I shudder to think how he’ll film this scene!
Day 688: Nov 19, 2023
This morning, I settle in with Issue 3 of The Gunslinger: The Way Station.
King wanted his own Lord of the Rings…
Glad they captured Jake’s “shine” here.
Well, that was a quick, rather unmemorable read. There’s still a pair of issues to go in this series. We’ll see what tomorrow brings!
Day 689: Nov 20, 2023
Next up is Issue 4 of The Gunslinger: The Way Station. I really like the cover here.
Hah!
Reading/watching adaptations can be less enjoyable if you’re intimately familiar with the source material. In this issue, the story has deviated with the introduction of “suckerbats” that I couldn’t care less about, wanting the story to just advance the way I remember it.
Which isn’t fair to this creative team.
Onward, then.
That’s an excellent interpretation of Roland’s haunting dream!
Glad to see the Oracle make an appearance.
Day 690: Nov 21, 2023
Finishing off The Gunslinger: The Way Station.
The Oracle speaks the truth.
“Better me than thee, gunslinger”
A gunslinger on mescaline sees some crazy stuff.
Marten is no more…
Jake’s sarcastic wit really comes through here.
Now that I’ve finished this particular run, I listen to Chat Sematary‘s review of the comic series The Gunslinger: The Way Station.
Interesting to hear them lean towards preferring the graphic novels for their faster pace compared to the source book. But at the same time, this episode focused exclusively on the way station scenes and Jake’s New York City backstory. They didn’t even touch upon the Oracle plot line which occupied a couple of issues. Made me think they didn’t even read the full run before recording this episode.
Day 691: Nov 22, 2023
The final comic series I’m going to read for this first Dark Tower novel is The Gunslinger: The Man in Black.
Then I get to move on to The Drawing of the Three!
This panel perfectly sums up the problem of Roland Deschain.
A little pre-palaver with the Man in Black that wasn’t in the book.
Good question, Jake!
I’m sorry, but this just isn’t something an 11/12 year old boy would say.
This issue has really deviated from the book. After pages of Jake wandering under the mountain by himself looking for Roland, he then burns devilgrass which causes visions of the tunnel’s past.
Day 692: Nov 23, 2023
Starting off Thanksgiving in the US with Issue 2 of The Gunslinger: The Man in Black.
The Man in Black conversing & directing the Slow Mutant army under the mountain? That really seems to trivialize the story, turning it into a pedestrian fantasy.
I much preferred the mindless, mysterious evil they represented in the novel.
Does “space-time continuum” sound like something Roland would say? Was he a fan of Star Trek: The Next Generation?
Roland must have picked out the worst Father’s Day cards.
The portrayal of the slow mutants as if they were Spiderman villains was disappointing.
They are supposed to be *slow* – weak but mindless. Driven by a doomed purpose they barely understand themselves.
Instead, here they are as Lizardman.
Day 693: Nov 24, 2023
Now reading Issue 3 of The Gunslinger: The Man in Black.
Roland looks very different in this series compared to the previous ones. I get that with a new artistic team comes creative changes, but the differences are more stark while binge-reading as opposed to the months that can transpire between graphic novel releases.
The train terminal’s 2-page spread is quite impressive!
I don’t recall “ghost lamps” from the book, but that sounds awfully similar to the “dead faces” in the Dead Marshes from Lord of the Rings.
And they behaved just like at the Dead Marshes.
I don’t mind homages – but this here is just blatant unoriginality.
Day 694: Nov 25, 2023
Today, it’s Issue 4 of The Gunslinger: The Man in Black.
That’s one sad Jake, right there.
I’ve been more critical of this particular series, but you can see the writing itself has become lazier, more blunt.
In the book, Roland’s fate to sacrifice Jake hung in the air as a tension, a dark mood. Here, Jake just blurts it out as if he were reading the summary on the back cover of this issue.
This scene of the railroad track ending is spectacular.
The sense of unimaginable height is perfectly captured!
“Hello, boys” is such a trope, yet it’s the perfect thing for the Man in Black to say.
I wouldn’t be surprised if, in the next panel, he said, “Heeeeere’s Johnny!”
And here it is – the second most famous line from The Gunslinger!
Day 695: Nov 26, 2023
At long last, I’ve reached the end of this particular step in my Stephen King Journey. Today, I completely finish with The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger!
Now reading the fifth and final issue of The Gunslinger: The Man in Black.
I’m not a fan of this reuse of the masterpiece of an opening line. I get the writer was attempting to bring gravity to this scene, but it felt too “cute”. That opening line is sacred and shouldn’t be trivialized like this.
I like that line: “I am nearly immortal, as are you, Roland”
Roland’s dream must have been such artistic fun to produce. Can you imagine how Mike Flanagan will bring this sequence to the big screen?
All of the great stories tease of things, much greater things, to come.
Listening now to Chat Sematary and their review of “The Gunslinger: The Man in Black” comic series.
And that wraps it up for The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger. Another milestone accomplished!
Here are some final thoughts and stats:
Number of items consumed in this step: 52
Hours spent: 79.5
Days passed: 79
Comic series read: 4
Current ETA for completing this entire journey: Oct 2028
Final thoughts:
🟢This was my favorite book so far. It was so different from anything else King had attempted. It didn’t tell a “story”. Instead, it almost read like a religious text with metaphors, parables and mysteries instead of plot.
🟢If I remember correctly, the subsequent books are more traditionally plot-driven and “King-like”. I will miss the style of “The Gunslinger” if that’s the case.
🟡The graphic novels were nice, but ultimately unfulfilling.
Finishing with my milestone rankings so far (based on entire experience – not just the book):
The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger
The Stand
Doctor Sleep
The Shining
Night Shift
Salem’s Lot
Carrie
Cujo
Firestarter
The Dead Zone
Danse Macabre